Author Archives
A journalist, writer and historian, Mick Roberts specialises in Australian cultural history, particularly associated with Australian pubs. Mick has had an interest in revealing the colourful story of Australian hotels or pubs and associated industries for over 35 years. Besides writing a number of history books, Mick has managed several community newspapers. Editorially, he has managed the Wollongong Northern News, The Bulli Times, The Northern Times, The Northern Leader and The Local - all located in the Wollongong region. As a journalist he has reported for Rural Press, Cumberland (News Limited), City Hub Sydney (City News), and Torch Publications (based in Canterbury Bankstown, Sydney).
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Early inns and taverns of Adelaide and South Australia
THE number of South Australian pubs – particularly those in its capital, Adelaide – was on the decline at the beginning of the 20th century. The old inns and taverns of early European settlement had steadily grown from when the… Read More ›
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Publican unlucky in love: Wealthy hotelier murdered by cheating wife
By MICK ROBERTS © PUBLICAN Roy Ferguson could be said to have been unlucky in love. The wealthy hotelier had at least three failed relationships with women who would eventually betray him – one fatally. Roy was no saint. In… Read More ›
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Berrima’s Surveyor General license lapsed in 1895: Title to Australia’s oldest ‘continuously licensed’ pub challenged
By MICK ROBERTS © THERE’S no doubt, Berrima’s Surveyor General Inn, on the NSW Southern Highlands, is one of Australia’s oldest trading pubs. Claims though that the pub is Australia’s oldest continuously licensed pub has come under a shadow with… Read More ›
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Opening of Granville’s Vauxhall Inn was celebrated with ‘buckets of rum’
By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN the first public railway in NSW was opened from Redfern to Parramatta in 1855, publican William Stone, to celebrate the occasion, advertised the sale of “buckets of rum for a penny”. Stone had recently opened… Read More ›
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The sad demise of publican and courtesan the ‘Eulo Queen’
By MICK ROBERTS © AN attractive, wealthy woman in her youth, the desire of many of her customers, publican, Isabel Gray, in her twilight years lived a pitiful life in squalor, struggling to make ends meet and battling mental health… Read More ›
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Queensland hotels of long ago
THE old pubs of Queensland were recalled by William Lees in an entertaining feature story published in ‘The Queenslander’ newspaper on September 5 1935. In his story, he tells of the shanties and inns of outback Queensland and the legendary… Read More ›
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Beaches Hotel opened as Thirroul Rex 70 years ago
WHEN Thirroul’s Rex Hotel opened for business in 1953, it brought to a close a campaign lasting almost 30 years by brewery giant, Tooth and Company, to have a pub in the seaside town. Known today as ‘Beaches’, the pub,… Read More ›
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Historic Mount Garnet pub calls last drinks
By MICK ROBERTS © THE Mount Garnet Hotel, located 163km south-west of Cairns, has called last drinks. Sadly the historic pub – the town’s last – will close on October 29 2023. The Mount Garnet Hotel posted to its Facebook… Read More ›
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Tragic tale of Edward killalea and his death at Wollongong’s Commercial Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © WHEN an Illawarra civic leader died on the sofa of Wollongong’s Commercial Hotel in 1872 the news caused a sensation. Edward Killalea was elected to the Shellharbour Municipal Council just two years before his death in 1872… Read More ›
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Mine’s a ‘Lady Blamey’: Beer served-up in cut-off beer bottles
By MICK ROBERTS © WALKING the mine-field of the various names of beer glass-sizes in Australia can be tricky – especially when you’re from inter-state. There’s the butcher, the handle, a pot, middy, and, of course, the schooner. While many… Read More ›